AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Decreases Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lowered its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 30.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,283,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 574,477 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.19% of MetLife worth $105,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 13.4% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 1,285 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in MetLife by 188.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 417,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,577,000 after acquiring an additional 272,619 shares during the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,608,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 256.8% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 62,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,161,000 after purchasing an additional 45,100 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 8.3% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 393,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,374,000 after purchasing an additional 30,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $76.33 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.79. The company has a market capitalization of $50.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.37, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $87.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 5.30%.MetLife’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays set a $90.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Mizuho set a $102.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 price objective on MetLife and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $95.27.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.